Property tax bills on the rise across the state

While average property tax bills may vary by several thousand dollars from town to town, nearly all are going up, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue recently released.

Since fiscal 2011, the average single-family property tax bill has increased by $507, or 11 .2 percent, the DOR found. In fact, the average bill has risen in each of the past 10 years, with a cumulative percentage increase of 40.6 percent.

Communities in the Fall River area haven’t been immune to similar increases as the average single-family property tax bill has increased 12.16 percent in Fall River, 12.2 percent in Swansea and 10.65 percent in Westport since fiscal 2011. Freetown has managed to keep the average bill increase to 5.83 percent, but has the highest average bill in the area at $3,292.

“I don’t think the bills are increasing at a pace that’s unusual compared to historic increases, but the expectation is communities are going to have fewer resources available and are trying to do more with less,” Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation policy analyst Carolyn Ryan said.

Homeowners in Weston pay the town an average of $17,832 in property taxes, the highest in the state. At the other extreme, property owners in the town of Hancock pay an average of just $674.

The suburbs west of Boston, where property values are generally high, have some of the highest tax bills in Massachusetts.

Communities with the lowest average property tax bills typically have low property values, small populations and a large commercial or industrial taxpayer. They include Hancock ($674), Rowe ($1,170), Florida ($1,358), Erving ($1,563), Tolland ($2,054) and New Ashford ($2,156).

The tax bill is influenced by several factors, not the least of which is property value. The average single-family property tax bill in Massachusetts is $5,044, while the average home is valued at $357,179, according to Department of Revenue. The average fiscal 2014 rate is $15.19 per $1,000 in assessed value.

The trends have emerged as cities and towns have grappled with rising costs of services and decreases in local aid from the state, said Jeff Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

“Since fiscal 2008, communities have been pretty much on their own in terms of paying for increased costs at the local level,” he said. “Communities are more reliant on the property tax to pay for local services now than any time during the last 30 years. That puts a lot of pressure on the property tax.”

The Department of Revenue analysis does not include the 13 cities and towns that have adopted a residential exemption because sufficiently detailed data was not available. The 11 communities that had not yet set a fiscal 2014 tax rate at the time of the analysis were also excluded.

When values rise, tax rates typically fall, and vice versa, the analysis concluded. There is an exception in places with high numbers of seasonal homes, such as Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.

Despite the constraints of Proposition 2½, average tax bills have risen in many years by more than 2.5 percent, even without overrides. Contributing factors could be new growth or the use of excess taxing capacity, the difference between the amount a community is allowed to collect and the amount it actually levies. Although a community’s taxing capacity increases by 2.5 percent each year, many cities and towns keep their rates lower and build up excess capacity. They then may use some of that excess capacity in a future year.

Department of Revenue spokesman Dan Bertrand said the DOR serves as a municipal data clearinghouse and has information available to the public online. The department, he said, periodically conducts studies and analyses.

“We believe it has a great value to give a snapshot of where those values and single-family tax bills stand right now and where it has been previously,” he said.

Gerry Tuoti is the Regional Newsbank Editor for GateHouse Media New England. Email him at gtuoti@tauntongazette.com or call him at 508-967-3137.

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